Beer On 'Gunsmoke': Real Deal Or Prop?

The actors on the set of Gunsmoke drank real beer, but the whiskey they drank was actually tea or coloured water. Marshall Trimble, Arizona's official historian and vice president of the Wild West History Association, confirmed this. James Arness, who played Marshall Matt Dillon, was the only actor to appear in every episode of the show.

Gunsmoke actors drank real beer

The actors on the set of Gunsmoke drank real beer. However, the whiskey they drank was tea or coloured water. Marshall Trimble, Arizona's official historian and vice president of the Wild West History Association, confirmed this.

The show is one of the most popular TV westerns in television history. It follows Marshall Matt Dillon, played by James Arness, and his deputy Chester, played by Dennis Weaver, in the wild west of Dodge City, Kansas. The show was so popular that what was initially a half-hour show was extended to an hour. It is also the second-longest-running television series of all time, with 5 Emmys.

The show's radio series, called "Gun Law", ran alongside the TV show until 1961, after over 400 episodes. The show also popularized the phrase "Get out of Dodge", which was often said by Dillon to criminals, referring to the show's setting.

While the beer on the set of Gunsmoke was real, this was not the case for other shows and films. For example, on the set of Cheers, Norm drank "near beer" with only 3% alcohol and lots of salt to keep a frothy head. In old western movies, whiskey was often replaced with tea or coloured water, and in more recent films, like "Arizona Dream", Johnny Depp reportedly drank about 11 shots of real whiskey.

Whiskey was substituted with tea or coloured water

The actors on the set of Gunsmoke drank real beer, but whiskey was substituted with tea or coloured water. Marshall Trimble, Arizona's official historian and vice president of the Wild West History Association, confirmed this. Whiskey was not as common as beer in the Wild West, but it was still consumed. In the late 1800s, whiskey was raw and was made with simple ingredients such as raw alcohol, burnt sugar, and chewing tobacco.

Before pasteurisation was invented in 1873, beer could not be bottled and distributed widely. Cowboys had to drink it warm and quickly. In the 1870s, ice plants began to appear in Western towns, and brewers could store ice underground during the summer to keep the brew cool.

The decision to use real beer on set may have been influenced by the fact that it was cheaper than using props. Actors drinking real alcohol on set is not unheard of. For example, Olivia Wilde confirmed that real beer and alcohol were used in one of her films because it was cheaper than using props.

However, alcohol is typically not used on TV or movie sets. This is because actors would have to shoot the same scene multiple times from different angles and would end up getting drunk.

Beer was not widely bottled until 1873

The earliest stories of bottled beer date back to the 16th century, when Dr Alexander Nowell, a Church of England rector and fishing fanatic, is said to have accidentally invented bottled beer. Nowell filled a bottle with home-brewed ale and took it with him on a fishing trip to the River Ash. He left the bottle behind in the riverbank grass and found it a few days later. When he opened the bottle, the ale had undergone a secondary fermentation, building up carbon dioxide pressure, and the cork made a loud popping sound.

However, it seems more likely that brewers were experimenting with storing beer in glass bottles in the latter half of the 16th century, though there is no evidence of commercial bottling until the second half of the 17th century. Bottled beer remained a luxury and was generally only used for the export market for another 150 years. Bottles were expensive, and each one had to be filled and corked by hand.

In the 1870s, the London brewer Whitbread began one of the earliest large-scale bottling operations, though corked bottles were inconvenient for drinkers as they required a corkscrew and could not be resealed. In 1879, Henry Barrett invented the screw-top beer bottle, a cheap, convenient, and reusable container. The idea caught on quickly, and bottled beer was further boosted by the French scientist Louis Pasteur's discoveries in the 1870s, which led to the invention of pasteurisation.

Ice plants began to appear in Western towns in the 1870s

In the 1870s, ice plants began to appear in Western towns. While beer was not widely bottled until pasteurization was invented in 1873, ice plants provided a new way to keep beer cold. Before the emergence of ice plants, brewers relied on cutting ice from frozen rivers in winter and storing it underground to maintain the temperature of their brews during the summer months.

Ice plants, native to South Africa, have become a popular feature in Western gardens due to their vibrant and shimmering appearance. These plants, known scientifically as Delosperma, thrive in semi-arid climates with hot summers and cold, dry winters. They grow well in areas with low rainfall and humidity, typically below 30 inches of annual precipitation, and are hardy in Zones 4 and 5. Delosperma also adapts to various soil types, except wet conditions, and prefers good drainage.

The introduction of ice plants in the 1870s marked a significant advancement in the West's ability to keep beer cold. While beer was not commonly consumed in the Old West compared to whiskey, the availability of ice plants likely contributed to the increasing popularity of beer. This development also aligned with the invention of pasteurization in 1873, which facilitated the widespread bottling of beer.

The emergence of ice plants in Western towns during the 1870s played a pivotal role in the region's beer culture, enabling brewers to store and serve cold beer consistently. This innovation, along with pasteurization, transformed the way people in the West experienced and consumed beer, shaping the drinking preferences and social dynamics of the time.

Actors drank real beer on the set of Beerfest

On the set of Beerfest, the actors drank real beer. However, it was O'Doul's non-alcoholic beer. Even so, one of the actors, Anna Kendrick, was not aware of this and got accidentally drunk. This was confirmed by her co-star Olivia Wilde, who said that real beer was used because it was cheaper than using props.

In other productions, real alcohol is sometimes used on set as well. For example, in Drinking Buddies, co-stars Olivia Wilde and Jake Johnson drank real beer, and in Arizona Dream, Johnny Depp drank about 11 shots of Jack Daniel's. In addition, the Gunsmoke actors drank real beer, but the whiskey was tea or coloured water.

While some productions choose to use real alcohol, others opt for non-alcoholic alternatives or coloured water. For instance, in Sideways, the actors drank non-alcoholic wine, and in Swingers, the bar scenes were filmed in actual bars during business hours.

Using real alcohol on set can have its challenges, as actors may get too drunk to film or become uncomfortable with their co-stars' drinking. It can also be a concern for productions with child stars, such as Harry Potter, where Daniel Radcliffe admitted to showing up to set still intoxicated from the night before.

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